Fork oil level, Eureka moment...... ;-)

[Rheumatoid]

So I have done my forks today.
New seals, new stanchions, new oil and Johns spring upgrade ;-)
After stripping them down, cleaning and checking every component for wear then reassembling using the HAYNES manual for the torque settings
It was time to give our John a ring for getting the oil level right.
After our conversation I found myself looking for my aquarium tube and syringe.
I found this method most inconvenient because not only was the tube not very straight, but it also had air bubbles in it and the whole method of checking started to do my head in.
Bloody oil everywhere and a syringe that I felt like throwing at the Cat.
I had to try another method, an easier method.
Then it came to me !
I ran down in to the cellar and grabbed a hack saw blade !
Then I tightened a cable tie around one end of the blade.
I needed this as a reference point.
After purging all the air out of the oil, I let it settle with the stanchions fully down, the springs installed and the forks stood on the floor under their own weight on a level floor.
Then I carefully lowered the hacksaw blade down in to the tube, alongside the spring until the bottom of the cable tie was flush with the top of the spring ;-)
Then I retracted the blade and measured the gap between the top of the oil and the bottom of the cable tie. Eureka lol
I had a dead accurate reading, just by using a hacksaw blade as a dipstick.
I hope this helps anybody in future.
:yo:

Thanks, but I don't have a hacksaw blade. will a bow-saw one do?

 

[Wolfie]

Yessssss... and it is wrong ( actually wrong on two counts in that version, which I have not seen before )

In the original Honda manual the springs should be in and the progressive part of the springs at the top ( not that it makes much difference as far as I can work out.. progressives are a compromise and a poor one at that )

Haynes then brought out a manual that said do it with the springs out, and low and behold reprint three of the Honda book had the same

I cannot help think that Haynes tends to copy a lot of the OEM book of words and visa-versa too !! And a whole lot of the info is not based on anything more than parroting rather than someone physically doing the job ( classic example is how they say you should change the plugs.. absolute bloody joke ! )

No matter what, I base my suggestion not on any manual .. I base it entirely on personal experimentation and experience, plus feedback from countless customers who have done the deed as I have mentioned.. springs in @tu*

Manual was issued December 1998 so 9 months before the shit injections came out.

 

[Rheumatoid]

Manual was issued December 1998 so 9 months before the smooth sophisticated injections came out.

Are the settings different then?

 

[Wolfie]

Are the settings different then?

yes fools of tools think the injection shit are better.

pass. my carb manual is at home.

 

[greenbriggs9]

ANYWAYS!
Thanks to John's spring upgrade and fork seals, brand new stanchions and New 10w fork oil,
The bike runs like a bought one.
I bet she hasn't handled this good since 97
Now I can look ahead instead of watching the road surface.
I use to have kittens everytime I went over bumps
And above all I would like to thank my trustworthy old hack saw blade.
8rfl@ 8rfl@

 

[Jaws]

Yes the settings are different.. Wolfie, try a 1st issue one instead of the 3rd mate..

Although gaps are different the basic info remains

 

[Boggymarsh]

As a slight aside, how much do you charge you charge to do a full overhaul of a set of forks with new springs John?

 

[Jaws]

On or off the bike mate ?

 

[Boggymarsh]

Off. Delivered/returned by courier a likely option.

 

[Jaws]

Whole lot including seals, springs, labour etc etc and shipping back would be ?150 ..
Turn around 2 days

 

[greenbriggs9]

Blooming bargain
AND you don't have to piss about with a tube OR a hacksaw blade lol ;-)

 

[Jaws]

Blooming bargain
AND you don't have to piss about with a tube OR a hacksaw blade lol ;-)

LOL !!!!! Very true ! :-0)

 

[Wolfie]

Yes the settings are different.. Wolfie, try a 1st issue one instead of the 3rd mate..

Although gaps are different the basic info remains

????? so in 1998 december they had already issued 2 previous workshop manuals for a bike that was still 9 months away from being sold?

 

[Jaws]

The info as to HOW to set the things up stems from 1996. As to what to set them to,, as you know that changed

Lord knows where you get the idea the EFI bird came out in 1999 though.

I know of several S reg ( 1998 ) EFI birds

 

[ridgeback05]

Good on you John!

YOU WOULD HAVE MADE A GOOD PM JOHN,8rfl@ WITH Des Lynam AS YOUR SIDE KICK!

MUCH BETTER THAT SHOWER OF SHITE WE HAVE GOT NOW!

 

[Jaws]

LOL !!!!
One of the grand kids has a tank full of stick insects.. Even those would make a better govt than the ones we always get stuck with !

 

[Wolfie]

Lord knows where you get the idea the EFI bird came out in 1999 though.

I know of several S reg ( 1998 ) EFI birds

oh just about everywhere, including here.

So in fact honda workshop manual is wrong again then as there aint an efi bit in my carb workshop manual 1996-1998 but there is the efi and no carbs in my efi workshop manual 1999-2002.

 

[Jaws]

The first EFI ones went on sale ABOUT July/August 1998.. Some folk claim earlier but that is the earliest I have ever seen

 

[Boggymarsh]

Whole lot including seals, springs, labour etc etc and shipping back would be ?150 ..
Turn around 2 days

Thank you John. Better speak with her sat next to me...

 

[greenbriggs9]

Did she say yes?
Are you allowed to got your forks done?
brok3